My Country: The New Age

Male Lead: Yang Se Jong
Female Lead: Kim Seolhyun
Secondary Lead: Woo Do Hwan
Also Starring: Jang Hyuk, Hong Ji Yoon, In Gyo Jin, Ji Seung Hyun, Young Nam Jang, Ahn Nae Sang, Kim Yeong Cheol, Yu Oh Seong, Park Ye Jin, Kim Seo Kyung, Lee Hyo Je, Lee Yoo Joon, Shim Wan Joon, Kim Dong Won, Kim Dae Gon
Year Released: 2019
Genre: Historical, Political TV Shows
Country: Korea
Where I Watched It: Netflix
Recommended By: Chance

At the end of the Goryeo period there are those who lead the charge to proclaim a new age, among them two friends who become enemies when they disagree on the direction of their country.

I watched this show at the recommendation of my nephew, Chance. He’s different from Chase. He’s more into political thrillers, historical movies, and what not so because I had such a great reaction to Chase’s recommendation, I thought I’d give Chance’s a go too. While I enjoyed this one, Chase wins in the recommendation department.

This show is a period piece that follows our main lead, Seo Hwi, and his best friend, Nam Sun Ho, as they struggle with the cards that life has dealt them. The show centers on them, their friendship and the different directions their lives take them. The power of friendship is seriously tested in this show and I was here for it.

My boy Hwi really went through it. After his father dies in disgrace, Hwi is left to care for his younger sister and it’s just the two of them. They struggle through life because they’re poor and they’re banking on Hwi getting into the military so that he can really start making money to care for his sister. She’s sick too so that’s another obstacle that he has to figure out every time she runs out of medicine. Through everything that Hwi goes through, you can see him struggle with his dignity and at times, his integrity. It would be so easy to let his guard down and really do whatever it takes to, shady or not, to get what him and his sister need but that’s not what he’s about. It’s not the son that his father raised so with his head held high, he deals with whatever hardship comes his way as best as he can.

My other boy, Sun Ho wasn’t poor, he actually grew up rich but his life wasn’t a walk in the park. For one, he’s the bastard son of a high ranking member of the military and Sun Ho spends a whole lot of time trying to win his father’s approval but he always comes up short. His friendship with Hwi and Hwi’s younger sister are the highlights in his life and he thought that they would always be by each other’s back but fate wouldn’t have that and the older they get, the further the distance between them becomes but you can see that though Sun Ho means well, his actions don’t always come across that way so the connection between him and Hwi is tested hard. It wasn’t enough for their lives to divide, they had to fall in love with the same girl to further complicate their already complicated friendship.

This was my introduction to Woo Do Hwan and Yang Se Jong and I was super happy about that. They acted their tails off in this show and I really connected with both of their characters. I really loved Hwi in this show so he was the one that I rooting for to get the girl but Woo Do Hwan won me over completely that I made a list of shows/movies he was in and I’m making my way through them.

This show is filled to the brim with political thrills and a whole lot of suspense that had me at the edge of my seat but it also left me frustrated through a good portion of the episodes because damn, they really kicked Hwi down and held him there with their foot on his neck. I got so mad at the bad guys and super frustrated with Sun Ho’s actions throughout the entire show. I did enjoy the romance and thought the female lead was a boss who was a perfect fit for Hwi. These Koreans are loyal as hell to their loved ones and I really dug that in this show. No matter what was going on between Hwi and Sun Ho, their shared love for Hwi’s sister was never questioned and Sun Ho did his best to care for her while Hwi was away and I really dug that. This show really engaged my emotions because I happy sighed just as much as I ugly cried and while it wasn’t my favorite show, it was still an enjoyable one and one that I would recommend to those looking for a historical political thriller. Lots of eye candy, too. 🙂

Listen to the OST

Final Rating

3.5 out of 5